Imago's 'Frogz' to find new life on 2013-14 national tour

For Imago Theatre's signature "Frogz," it's time to hop to it once again.courtesy of Imago Theatre

A few months ago, Imago Theatre announced that it would be retiring its signature mask-theater productions, the family-friendly creature features “Frogz,” “Biglittlethings” and “ZooZoo.” We asked co-founder Jerry Mouawad if this would end up being like David Bowie’s announcement in 1990 that he was about to stop playing all his older songs, only to change his mind a few years later.

“I can’t speak for David Bowie,” Mouawad replied, “but we intend to focus on a new kind of work.”

Then a few weeks ago, Imago announced it will hold auditions for.¤.¤. “Frogz.”

Mouawad insists, though, that he’s not ch-ch-ch-ch-changing his mind. (Sorry.)

“Yes, we are intent on closing our mask theater productions,” he replied in an email. “However, since we spoke in November making that a reality is becoming more difficult than anticipated.”

“ZooZoo,” which had a farewell hometown run in December, will be mothballed this summer after a national tour. But a 2013-14 tour of “Frogz,” had already been scheduled – hence Tuesday evening’s auditions (during which Imago also will be looking performers for an adaptation of "La Belle et la Bete," a.k.a. "Beauty and the Beast"). There’s a chance that "Frogz," the show that first put Imago on the national performing-arts map, might even play Portland again, if a show in the company’s new style of movement-theater work isn’t stage-ready by the holiday season.

“Securing funding to produce these new works may need to come from our ‘Frogz’ revenue as well as an intensive fundraising effort,” Mouawad says. “In addition, it takes time to produce original work intended for national touring and that time consuming process is revealing to us (that) it’s a long one.”